[Map compiler] Lightmap-Styles / AO?

Hi,

I was wondering what you mean with lightmap styles. Can you please explain what this feature is supposed to do?

Second, I wanted to ask you if you plan to add ambient occlusion to the map compiler in the future?

I also don't know what I mean with lightmap styles. Can you give a hint?

Nor do I know for what you'll need ambient occlusion in a map compiler. It's a realtime postprocessing algorithm. Can you give me another hint?

Lightmap styles:
http://manual.3dgamestudio.net/forecast.htm


Edit: I think I get it, look here about lightmap styles:
http://www.flipcode.com/archives/Advanced_Lightmapping.shtml

AO: I think he means baked, static AO, not dynamic AO.

Sorry, I thought you were writing the forecast... ;-) So, after reminding you, is the page fogman refered to is that stuff you are intending to add to the compiler?

Yeah, I am looking forward to bake ambient occlusion into my maps. You added radiosity to the map compiler, so, I thought that adding AO to it is not much more difficult than radiosity.

SSAO is indeed a realtime shading algorithm - so, if you won't intend to add AO to the compiler (but that would be a killer feature, just my oppinion), would you please add a SSAO post processing shader to the shader library (another killer feature :-)). The whitepaper from Crytek explains SSAO very well...

Baked AO would be indeed a nice feature since SSAO can not simulate wide range AO when the viewer is close to the geometry.

I plan to add SSAO to my lighting solution I´m currently developing but there are more basic features with higher priority I´ve to add first.

We do not plan baked AO.

As to the lightmap styles, I have now been informed what I meant: Alexej wants to implement a way to store sets of static light settings. So you can switch the style of a static light, f.i. from bright to dark, and the lightmaps are then swapped accordingly.

Too bad.
Is the development effort that high? I thought the dev basis is given since radiosity is already implemented?

AO would be a great feature, because there is no way to implement it by script. And additionally it adds a lot of look to the scene. So this would be a feature request from my side and also a good reason for purchasing A8

The development of this feature shouldn't take too much time, because it's just random tracing of rays - not even bouncing or something complicated involved...

AO would really be a great addition, especially as it would also hide some light bleeding...

Baked AO would be fantastic. Even if we used completely dynamic shadows, baking AO would add a lot to scenes.

Jibb

This should not be very hard to implement with the current map compiler? only a diffrent lightmap algorithm?

Such feature would be nice.

I don't think that static AO looks any good, with the low lightmap resolution. We can give it a try. Do you know a software that uses AO for static lightmaps?

Cry Engine 3, and I am not sure "Killzone2" use it?

Cry Engine 3 does not use AO for static lightmaps. It has an AO shader.

Killzone 2 had it turned off in the release version, was a shader as well, which, even after being tweaked the hell out of it, turned out to be too slow.

The faked AO was just clever lightmapping done with the Turtle engine. (they made a new render engine now, Beast, used in Unity3.0)

http://www.illuminatelabs.com/

Then i am sry, give me the donkey head

http://www.weltweitimnetz.de/software/3D-Engine.de.page

I think the low lightmap res would only be a problem for low range AO which in fact could be additionally simulated in real time by SSAO besides a static wide range solution.